Annabeth's Nightmares
by allythebunny
Summary: Annabeth has these recurring nightmares... probably because she's cheating on Percy...


Annabeth studied the people around her carefully. What exactly was she getting into?

"Annabeth, just think about this!" Nico pleaded.

"Nico. You're a nice guy. Most of the time. Don't make me hurt you."

Annabeth looked at Percy. He was staring at her cautiously, like he was trying to figure out what she was thinking.

"I'm going to wake up, and this will all be a dream," Annabeth murmured. "I'll wake up and figure out that I'm actually going out with Percy still, that he didn't just discover me and Nico making out…"

"You admit it, then." Percy raised a shaking hand and pointed it at Annabeth.

"Percy!" she squeaked. "Think about this. This is all just a really, really bad dream."

"I sure hope so, because then when I wake up, you'll be alive…" Percy growled. Annabeth stared for a moment, then realized his meaning. "You're kidding, right? Percy…"

She didn't get the chance to finish. Water roared above her, and suddenly she was sinking. And unlike usually when Percy was around, she couldn't breathe…

* * *

><p>Annabeth awoke in a cold sweat. It HAD just been a dream. She turned over and saw Malcolm on the bunk bed across from her. He was snoring gently, and it lulled her frantic mind. Thank goodness Percy hadn't actually discovered her. Nico was sleeping in the Hades cabin at the moment, naturally. Annabeth jumped off of her bed. Her bunk-mate raised an eyebrow sleepily.<p>

"Just going to the bathroom," Annabeth whispered, and Tillie went back to sleep. Annabeth stole out of the cabin and towards the very end of the male cabin row, where the Hades cabin was. Where Nico slept, alone. She let herself in, knowing that he would still be awake.

"Annabeth. What are you doing up this late?" Nico asked her from his sitting place by the fountain. He looked up at her. A boy was still talking in the Iris-message.

"I couldn't sleep. I was having nightmares." Annabeth grimaced.

"Hold on. Barry, I'll have to call you back. Yeah, it's urgent. Bye." Nico swiped his hand through the rainbow, ending the IM. "What is it? What did you dream?" he beckoned Annabeth over with one hand, the other propelling himself off of the chair towards her. Annabeth stumbled into his arms. "I dreamed that Percy found out about us."

"That will never happen, Annabeth. I promise." Nico held the older girl in his arms as her shoulders began to shake.

"But what if he does?"

"Then we'll take it as it comes. He must know that he can't have you forever."

"But I'm cheating on him."

"No, you're not."

"Um…" Annabeth looked at Nico oddly.

"Okay, yeah, you are. Doesn't matter. Just break up with him."

"I can't…" Annabeth covered her face with her hands. Nico sat down on his bed, and Annabeth sat on his lap, crying.

"It's okay," he soothed. "It'll work out in the end. It usually does."

Annabeth glanced up at him through her damp eyelashes. He was looking down at her protectively, and suddenly she couldn't resist. She kissed him. It wasn't like it was her first time kissing him or anything. He hugged her to his chest and responded forcefully, opening his mouth and running his tongue across her lips. She opened her lips and their tongues battled for dominance as they toppled sideways onto the bed. Nico parted and smiled at her.

"It'll be okay. I promise."

* * *

><p>So how did it all come to this, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you. Yeah, that up there, that was my attempt at third-person writing. I'm Annabeth. It all started at the party up at Olympus. Thalia and I were dancing, since Percy was back with his parents. Thalia went to get some refreshments, and suddenly Nico had taken over the DJ seat and had dedicated a song to me. He then proceeded to jump onto the floor and do this whole complicated dance routine. And the girl who had a crush on him for, like, ever, Tillie, my bunk-mate, was just watching me with these insanely big eyes. Ouch, right? Thalia and Percy arrived by my side almost at the same time, around when the song was finishing. They clapped, not knowing what it was. I just stared at Nico. Who knew he had it in him?<p>

A few days later, I was helping Nico fix up a chariot for the races that week. He was underneath, tinkering, when I noticed that he had a picture of me taped to the wall in his private garage thing. There was another, smaller one that had fallen to the floor. I picked it up and put it in my pocket to study later. Nico came out from under the chariot and took my hand. I blinked, but remained composed. Outwardly. Inwardly, I was freaking out. Naturally. Nico stepped into the shadows, and suddenly, we were in a place filled with light. We stepped out of the only shadow there. Then he kissed me. And my heart melted. I thought I had found an amazing kisser in Percy. Nico proved me wrong. He pressed his lips against mine, tilted his head, and I could feel sparks flying off of my lips. You read romance novels where the heroine simply melts against her lover. I didn't think that was real before. But, heck was I wrong. I melted against Nico like ice against a flame. He opened his mouth and licked my lips. I almost opened my mouth… but then he stepped back.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth. I shouldn't have done that. I just had an uncontrollable urge."

My voice came out husky and weird. "It's okay, Nico." What the heck?

"Hmm. I dunno…" Nico looked at me, silently pleading for me to say something that would allow him to continue.

"You're a really good kisser…" I prompted. Screw Percy. Nico… Nico's lips… that was all I could think about. And Nico sort of got that. His hands entwined my body in a crushing embrace as our lips touched. I felt warm, protected. Then his hand started creeping up the back of my shirt, and I backed away.

"Dude, you're two years younger than me."

"You did ask for it… sort of." Nico's voice was husky now, too.

"I know…" I sighed. "But I've got Percy…" Even I couldn't mistake the guilt in my voice. Percy would be crushed if he knew.

"You don't need him. He's in love with someone else. That new girl, Emily. He's completely infatuated with her. He just doesn't show it around you."

But I knew he was lying. He HAD to be. I mean, what kind of boyfriend would go behind his girlfriends back and become infatuated with someone else?

Didn't that sound familiar somehow?

I nearly burst into tears. Nico grasped my chin, tilted it upwards so I was looking into his face.

"Forget Percy, Annabeth. He's not good enough for you."

"And you are?" I croaked.

"No, I'm not. But I'm better than him."

Days blew by like gusts of wind, and suddenly it was time for camp to be over. Percy would leave for the next nine months, and I'd have Nico all to myself. I saw Percy outside of his cabin, giving it one last go-over.

"How soon are you leaving?"

"Two hours." He answered quickly, and kissed me. It was surprising. Usually, I was the one who kissed him.

"What was that for?" I asked, confused.

"What, a guy can't kiss his girlfriend?" Percy responded. I slowly shook my head.

"Percy, you make no sense sometimes." I walked away, not giving him a chance to respond.

"Do you think he knows?" I asked Nico. He shook his head.

"He couldn't. We've been so careful. He could never know about us. It's just not possible." Nico sounded sort of panicky.

"Nico… he's gone. He's in New Yorkuntil next June. We've got nine months all to ourselves now!" I tried to sound cheerful. "And next June, I can tell him that I got tired of waiting for him, so I'm with you now."

"He'll kill us both."

"No, he won't. We're his friends. He's not like that. Remember Luke?"

"Who doesn't?" Nico muttered.

"He always hesitated before trying to kill him. Like he didn't want to kill someone who used to be his friend. You see what I mean?"

"Yeah, I see." Nico smiled. "We're all right." He pulled me over to him and I hugged him. He had shot up about a foot since the last summer, so he was now about a head taller than me. Boys. He pulled me into a tight embrace, tighter than my hug.

"C'mon. We've got archery in ten minutes." He kissed me lightly on the forehead and I nodded, but didn't move. I was too comfortable in his arms. "Annabeth," he pleaded. "Let's go." I nodded firmly and Nico let me go. I suddenly missed his arms. They were so warm and firm and comforting…

I was golfing with Percy. We were on a golf course overlooking the sea. Emily and I were standing and talking, when all of a sudden, Percy was there. And Emily tried to kiss him, the ditzy girl she was, but he just pushed her away. And then she stumbled, and she fell off of the cliff and into the ocean… I stared at Percy, but he didn't even notice. He just kissed me. And then we both lost our footing, and started falling into the ocean. Suddenly it was Nico, not Percy, and that's when I knew: we were going to die.

I woke up with a strangled scream. Nico was standing in the shadows by my bed as quickly as lightning.

"Annabeth." He said in a hushed tone. "What's wrong?"

"I just had a nightmare is all."

He raised his arms and plucked me out of my bed like I was a rag doll or something, and suddenly we were in his cabin. "Shadows are everywhere at night, so I can move around easily. Now, are you okay?"

I nodded. "Just before he left, Percy kissed me. What does that mean?"

"It means that he doesn't want to feel so guilty about cheating on you."

"You really think so?" I asked, and Nico nodded. I must have been insane. What girl, after all, is comforted when she hears that her boyfriend is probably cheating on her?

"I dreamed that Percy pushed us off of a cliff…" I mumbled. Nico grimaced at me, and grabbed me and held me in his arms. I felt so warm and comfortable in his arms, it was hard to stay sad for long.

"You can't stay here all night without permission from Dionysus." Nico pointed out.

"I'll ask him tomorrow. Malcolm can be head of the Athena cabin for all I care."

"That works for me…"

* * *

><p>"Mr. D?" I peered cautiously into the room. Mr. D was playing pinochle with Chiron and a few satyrs.<p>

"Yeah, yeah, Annie Bell, what is it?"

"I wanted permission to sleep in the Hades cabin."

"Oh yeah, whatever. Now go do whatever you young people do." Dionysus shooed me out of the room.

Nico grabbed me by the shoulders as I walked out. "What'd he say?"

"I'm good to go."

"Your stuff's already there." Nico grinned. I beamed up at him and he kissed me again. Suddenly, we walked into a shadow and were in the Hades cabin. I looked around. Indeed, all of my stuff was sitting on the floor by one of the bunk beds.

"It's nearly time for dinner, Annabeth." Nico looked at me. I was so tempted to tell him, 'dinner can wait, let's make out.' But I couldn't. Instead, I answered normally.

"Okay. I have to tell Malcolm he's taking over Athena."

"Cool." Nico took my hand and we walked out of the cabin and over to the dining pavilion. Everyone was staring, but we played it cool for a while. I walked over to Malcolm and sat down quickly.

"Look, Malcolm, you're in charge now. I'm moving in with Nico."

"Oh." Malcolm seemed a little stunned. "Oh, okay."

"It's not like THAT." I tried to explain. "I just want to be near him."

"You're cheating on Percy!" One of the girls from the Aphrodite cabin exclaimed gleefully.

"I'm breaking up with him next June," I promised.

"Ooh. This'll be awesome!" One of the guys in that cabin proclaimed. "A breakup!"

"Shut up," I yelled as I walked towards the Hades table that I would now be sitting at. Nico grimaced at me.

"They'll get used to it over time…" he tried to reassure me. I only nodded.

Percy was late for the cabin leader's meeting. Him and Emily both. Suddenly I saw them from out of the door. One of Percy's arms was hooked around one of the pillars on the dining pavilion, and he was kissing Emily like there was no tomorrow. And all I could feel was a burning, consuming rage. And jealousy. And hatred. To kill Emily or not to kill her? That was the question.

They walked in a minute later, acting as if nothing had happened. A slight blush graced Emily's slender face. Percy had the nerve to look as if he had just had the best five minutes of his life. Everyone was congratulating them. Percy slapped Nico on the back amiably. I thought I would die of jealousy.

Next thing I knew, Nico was shaking me awake. "Emily from the Hephaestus cabin wants to talk to you."

My first thought was this: 'she dares talk to me after what she did, the little usurper?'

Then: 'oh. It was only a dream.'

Then: 'I'll kill her anyways if I get the chance.'

"I'll talk to her in a minute." I'll kill her later. Must kiss Nico now.

"She says it's urgent!" Nico pleaded.

"All right, all right." I struggled out of bed and threw on some clothes. Nico had the decency to look away, thankfully. Then he pulled me into an earth-shaking kiss before tugging me out the door. Emily was waiting on the step nervously.

"Annabeth." Her voice quavered ever so slightly. "I have a message for you."

"Who is it from?" I asked.

"Percy."

'IT WASN'T A DREAM!' I thought.

"What did he say?"

"He said that you two are through, that he doesn't ever want to speak to you or Nico again."

"Oh." I was stunned. "Um… tell him that I don't care."

"Will do." Emily nodded and turned away. "Oh, and Annabeth?"

She turned back around.

"What?"

"He was cheating on you, too. With ME."

Emily stalked away, a smug grin on her usually pleasant face.

Me? I sobbed into Nico's chest. He patted me tentatively on the back.

"It'll be okay. Maybe it was for the best…"

"But now Percy wants nothing to do with me," I moaned.

"But now he knows, and so we don't have to live in secret anymore."

I sighed. "I need to get back at that little sneak."

"No, you don't."

"Yeah, I DO." I pushed myself away from Nico and stared into his eyes. "I won't feel right if I don't."

"Okay." He shrugged. "Go do whatever dastardly deed needs doing."

"Will do…" I turned away and stalked towards Emily. Then I had an idea.

"I need you to get Percy for me. I'm going to get Nellie from Aphrodite. She can help me."

"Whatever you say…" Nico shrugged. "I'll try…"

I stalked towards the Aphrodite cabin, where Nellie and a few others were lounging on the railing.

"Nellie. I need you to help me break up Emily and Percy, and restore the balance."

Nellie was immediately in on it. "Okay. What should I do?"

"Make Percy fall in love with me, just for a few minutes. And I need someone to make sure… POSITIVE… that Emily is watching while he becomes so."

I think everyone understood. Evil grins lit up those beautiful faces.

"We'll get right on it." Nellie spoke for everyone.

"I'll meet you in the Poseidon cabin in five, then?"

"Will do." Nellie laughed. I laughed right back and walked out towards the Poseidon cabin. Percy was already stalking into it bemusedly. He wouldn't come out for a while, that was for certain. Nellie was already hurrying over, waving her manicured nails spookily at the cabin entrance. I jumped up the steps and into the cabin, where Percy stood looking at me like I was sent from heaven. Emily entered a second later and I shut her securely in Percy's closet, with a peep-hole for her to look out of. Then Percy kissed me, and that feeling that I had first had came back- of flying and finding the gold at the end of the rainbow, like my lips were on fire, like the only thing in the world was Percy. It was amazing. That was the Percy I missed. The Percy I had found again in Nico. The Percy that I needed. I could hear Emily shrieking in the closet, banging at the door, yelling to be let out. She saw us and banged harder, shrieked louder. But she couldn't get out. How nobody heard, I had no clue. But Percy… Percy heard. It was obvious. He pricked his ears up and looked around. Then he forgot about it and resumed kissing me.

"I love you, Annabeth." He whispered, and it took all of my willpower not to whisper back, "I love you, Percy."

Then suddenly Nico barged in, staring at me, and the spell was broken.

"THIS WAS YOUR IDEA OF REVENGE?" he yelled. I nodded.

"Revenge?" Percy screamed. "Revenge? YOU CHEATED ON ME. WITH NICO, OF ALL PEOPLE."

"YOU CHEATED ON ME WITH EMILY!"

"I… what?" At this, Percy had the nerve to look confused. Emily's eye disappeared from the peephole as she cowered in the back of the closet. "Emily? What are you talking about?"

Finally, it fit. And I was NOT happy with a certain girl whose name started with E.

"Emily, you little sneak. You little… ooh, if I could just wring your neck right here and now…" I groaned. Nico and Percy apparently had the same idea. They stormed toward the closet as Nellie backed away. Nobody noticed. We were all too focused on Emily.

She was hunched into a corner of the closet, shaking and crying. This seemed to stir something in Percy, and he leaned over close to her.

"Emily. I'm not going to hurt you. I just need you to stop spreading rumors."

"But… but…" she stammered. "It wasn't my fault! Nellie told me that Charles had told her about the message, so I passed it on!"

"What about that last part, when you said that he cheated with you?" I nearly screamed.

"I was teasing! For Hephaestus's sake! Don't you know sarcasm when you hear it?"

Well, I felt stupid. Nico looked at me. It was time to make a decision…

Nico looked at Percy. "So… forgive us for cheating?"

"Definitely not the time, but yeah. Whatever. I was actually planning on asking Nellie out… before THIS happened. Sorry, Annabeth."

"No, it's not your fault." I shrugged. "I've been a horrible girlfriend."

Nico beamed at me happily, and I shrugged. When he kissed me, it was like a lightning bolt shot through my brain, leaving me dizzy, but ecstatic. Nico was my new Percy, and Percy didn't mind a bit...


End file.
